Chapter 239 - 183 - I’d Rather Be a Primitive Man

"Hey, the fire brigade looks ordinary from the outside, but the interior decoration is pretty nice, huh."

"Yeah... The environment here is way better than our unit!"

"Woo... Woo... I want to go home..."

"Ah, don’t cry, don’t cry, we’ll be going home soon, okay!"

Fang Huai led a group of people bustling upstairs.

"Quiet~ quiet!"

"Everyone, to the fourth floor, assemble in the multipurpose hall!"

It was then that Cao Yi, leading a group, strolled upstairs leisurely, still discussing with Ye Jiahong how the recently deceased Fat Sister Lydia Sum filmed so many commercials and how much money she must have left for her daughter.

Fang Huai cursed inwardly.

Motherfucker, downstairs is bustling, and I’m running up and down like mad, while the two bosses here are chatting about Hong Kong entertainment news.

Without me, this squadron would fall apart.

And besides, shouldn’t the hottest topic recently be about the helpless firefighter and the computer repair shop owner who could break through the door?

Watching the spectacle is one thing, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone ignore the watermelon and choose the bitter gourd instead; these two really might have diabetes.

...

The personnel took their seats, and the large multipurpose hall was surprisingly almost 80 percent full.

Yang Shaoqing was called up by Hao Chengbin to sit in the front row, next to the sister-in-law from the Public Security Bureau.

The lights went off, and Fang Huai started the PowerPoint projection from the stage.

Afterward, he gestured to the village secretary who had been specifically arranged to sit in the front row before the meeting began.

"Today, I want to start by telling you all a story."

The village secretary sounded his agreement, tucked his smoking pipe at his waist, stood with his hands behind his back, stepped onto the stage, and was about to turn to the audience when he asked with a mix of local dialect and Mandarin:

"Leader, can I leave after I finish speaking? My wife has simmered pig trotters for me, and they’re about to fall apart!"

"Hehehe..."

The crowd below laughed.

Some men and women purposefully sitting close together joined in the chatter, starting a discussion.

Fang Huai couldn’t help but laugh as well, "Why not eat it here? We’ve got simmered pig trotters this afternoon too!"

The laughter from the crowd grew louder.

But the village secretary shook his head resolutely, "Nevermind! I can see now; you comrades train harder than us farmers during your regular exercises! I won’t compete with you for food!

And don’t worry, when I get back, I will certainly deal with those who report false alarms, calling you to irrigate their fields!"

At these words, everyone quieted down, becoming curious about what he meant by false alarms.

Not even all members of the Second Squadron were aware of the full story.

Fang Huai on the stage nodded in response:

"Old Secretary, your trip here hasn’t been in vain."

The old Secretary didn’t waste words, turning his head to look at the audience. Used to addressing dozens or even hundreds of people, he didn’t succumb to stage fright. He cleared his throat, and with the air of telling a tall tale, he began:

"Eh... It was the day before yesterday at noon."

"I was still sleeping at the time when Zhao Yaomei from next door came knocking, calling me, saying that a fire had started in the village."

"When I went out to look, whoa, it was serious, fire was everywhere. I rushed to tell them to call 119."

"But after waiting for about an hour, no one had arrived. The fire wasn’t big at first, but that day was windy, and the embers were flying everywhere. Some households in our village were unoccupied, and people just took care of their own, and it quickly spread..."

"The firefighters from 119 who arrived on the scene told us it was because we reported a false alarm last year..."

...

"After the fire was extinguished, these comrades went up the mountain to patrol for quite a while. It wasn’t until there was a heavy downpour that they came down from the mountain."

"That’s the situation. Ah, I believe, the responsibility lies entirely with our village. I want to formally apologize to..."

"Alright, alright." Fang Huai interrupted as the village secretary began reaching into his pocket for a scribbled letter of self-criticism, "Secretary, you’ve finished telling the story, and we’re very grateful. If you’re in a hurry, you can go back."

The village secretary looked somewhat baffled, "Aren’t you asking me here to make an apology?"

"No, no, it’s me who should apologize."

As he spoke, Fang Huai ushered him down from the stage.

Then, on the PowerPoint, he pulled up a photo from the day of the dispatch, pointing to the forest on the mid-mountain terrace, and said:

"I’d like to start by apologizing.

The day before yesterday at noon, during this emergency call, due to an error on my part, we almost caused a massive forest fire."

As his voice fell, the whispered discussions below about farmers lacking legal awareness stopped, and everyone listened intently to Fang Huai’s words.

"In the case of this fire, with the only water tanker on site running low on water, I attempted to put out a fire at a house very close to the forest, and I unauthorizedly broke open the remaining tiles on the house’s roof and its side wall.

At the time, it was in a state of intense burning, and a large number of uncontrolled embers from inside the house drifted into the forest.

The forest at that time was extremely dry, heated by the high temperatures from the fire below, coupled with this year’s spring drought. Had it not been for the timely heavy rain that day, it’s very likely, with a high probability, that a fire could have occurred.

As for the potential scale of the fire, taking into account the half-hour response time from our jurisdiction brigade, it’s possible that by the time we arrived, it would have been beyond salvation.

I’m truly grateful that I can frankly discuss this serious error with you here. If it had caused severe consequences, I don’t know if I would have the courage to speak up.

Because this could have resulted in a severe punishment for me and my unit, and it might have even led to criminal responsibility for the villagers who started the fire and the dispatch officer who mishandled the call."

The crowd exploded.

"Is it as terrifying as he says?"

"Have you not heard of the Daxing’anling Forest Fire in ’87? A fire started by a single cigarette butt got so many troops and Party members called in to fight the fire... they fought it for a whole month!"

Restoring the original ecological environment will take a hundred years!

Then came the slogan!

"Setting fire to the mountain, you’ll rot in jail! A major accident, starting with three years for a mistake, and for doing it on purpose... heh, at least ten years won’t be enough!"

"Oh... that’s terrifying, I’ll have to be more careful when visiting graves next time!"

Everyone was buzzing with discussion, and Yang Shaoqing below the stage was holding her skirt tightly, her chest heaving with barely concealed nervousness. Her sister-in-law next to her saw this and took her hand, patting it.

Cao Yi’s expression also turned a bit serious as he turned his head to Meng Qiang, who was taking photos in the back:

"Record the details of this incident and put it in the Second Squadron’s key case analysis files!"

Hao Chengbin saw everyone’s reactions, frowned, stood up, and said aloud:

"Fang Huai, this is not your fault. You handled the situation properly that day, and the subsequent actions were not reckless but a matter of valuing time.

Even if it were me, I couldn’t have done it any better.

Moreover, if Instructor Cao and their vehicle hadn’t been blocked, the water could have been connected."

No sooner had he spoken than the Village Secretary, who had just been about to sit down and listen some more, kept muttering "Mother’s Smelly Pussy" and slipped away, still shaken.

"Right, Fang Huai, you’re not at fault here. If it weren’t for you, things might have been worse," Cao Yi stated as well.

Fang Huai on the stage smiled and picked up the microphone again:

"Actually, I mention this to tell everyone, don’t think you won’t be the cause of a fire. Even firefighters can make mistakes."

With that, Fang Huai flipped to the next slide on the computer, which displayed several photos of fire scenes.

His expression turned solemn as he pointed to the projection and said:

"You might not see many fires caused by a single cigarette butt around you, but fires caused by electrical appliances are all too common.

The first photo, last January, in Dalingshan Town, Dongguan, an unlicensed plastic recycling workshop suffered a lighting circuit short circuit, resulting in 13 deaths and 5 injuries.

The second photo, last October, at 4:30 in the morning, a wool sweater workshop in Wujiang, Jiangsu, had an electric battery car’s fuse short circuit on the first floor, igniting a fire. The sleeping workers, four died of suffocation on the spot, four were beyond rescue, and only three managed to escape."

All were caused by substandard electrical appliances and inadequate protection.

In our province, there have been shocking cases too!

Last March, Chuangong Palace in Tongren, a site with over 600 years of history and a provincial-level cultural heritage protection unit, caught fire due to the use of a wooden electric firebox, destroying a large number of cultural relics!

Statistics show that the causes of electrical fires are: short circuits at 36%, electrical equipment faults at 16%, overloading at 12%, improper use of electric heating appliances at 11%, poor contact at 6%, and other causes like human error, fire exposure, etc., at 19%.

Among them, a significant part of short circuits stems from haphazard and unprofessional wiring.

Everyone thinks they are an electrician.

To save trouble, people dare to tamper with all kinds of circuits. These situations are very common, just visit the small shops in the downtown area or high-density residential zones.

Perhaps, your homes might also have similar circumstances.

Electric cars may be a future trend, but when it comes to charging systems entering homes, you must hire professionals to handle it. Don’t rely on an instruction manual and think you know what you’re doing, leaving behind risks."

As Fang Huai spoke, someone in the audience immediately chimed in:

"Right! Last month, an electric car near my home caught fire while charging, crackling and popping. It was so scary!"

The discussion restarted among everyone.

Fang Huai couldn’t help but smile.

The electric car I’m talking about is two wheels short of the one you’re talking about.

"Ahem, besides that, let’s talk about electrical appliance faults.

Why does the state impose such heavy penalties on counterfeit and substandard electrical products? Because the convenience they create is far outweighed by the harm they bring.

Their safety and reliability are extremely poor!

Additionally, regarding faults caused by misuse, let’s focus on the hair dryer.

This is the most common and the easiest to quickly become faulty.

If you leave it on and toss a towel on it after drying your hair, blocking the air outlet, in one minute, just one minute, you’ll be in for a surprise when you return."

"Heh heh heh... What kind of surprise, more like a scare, right?"

Laughter erupted among the audience.

Fang Huai shook his head and said:

"There are children below, so I’d better finish my point, lest any kids go to try it.

Most hair dryers generate hot air by heating a coil. If they are on and covered with clothes or a towel, it will take only 20 seconds to start a fire.

Also, electric heaters, the great tool for warming clothes and socks in the winter, especially those little suns used for warming feet in your offices, are particularly numerous.

If you leave without turning off the power, then you should be prepared to welcome a fire.

These appliances not only generate heat but can also leak electricity. Misuse can lead to accidents.

The common practice of daisy chaining power strips is dangerous. Many people do it because one power strip isn’t long enough, so they just connect another to it.

Have you ever looked at the maximum voltage written on the back of your power strips to compare with the electrical appliances plugged into it?

Do you know its threshold? Have you ever forced it to endure more than what its price range should allow?

These dangers are pervasive in our lives.

I don’t need to tell you the most extreme scenarios, just the common ones.

Imagine a rental house with haphazard wiring, a dormitory filled with a plethora of cheap, low-quality electrical appliances, and someone living there who likes to chain together power strips. And if the home also harbors a few rats fond of gnawing on wires due to a lack of cleanliness, how high would the chance be of that person dying young?

If I were in such an environment, I’d rather turn off the main switch and live like a primitive man.

A single electrical appliance becoming hazardous may be a rare event, but layering one danger upon another will step by step push oneself towards the abyss."

In the multifunction hall, Fang Huai’s voice echoed out, followed by a prolonged silence that brought with it an air of solemnity.

...